MR. STEVANOVIC SAYS TO ENTREPRENEURS: WE ARE AWARDING GRANTS, PLEASE APPLY

17. November 2017.

Belgrade - Dragan Stevanovic, State Secretary of the Ministry of the Economy, urged the entrepreneurs and owners of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises to apply for the program of support to investments, within which over 242.9 million dinars in grants had been provided.

Mr. Stevanovic explained that the program was implemented by the Ministry of the Economy, in cooperation with the Development Fund, and that it referred to a combination of funding 20 per cent of investments through the Ministry’s grants and 80 per cent through the Fund’s favorable loans.

"We provided around 243 million dinars more for grants," Mr. Stevanovic said for the “Tanjug” press agency.

He said that the effects of the development program, which was implemented by the Ministry of the Economy, were already noticeable.

The deadline until when interested parties may apply for grants through the program of encouraging the development of entrepreneurship by support to investments in the economy is December 1, 2017, while entrepreneurs will additionally have at their disposal any unspent grants under the program of encouraging the development projects.

The program provides support to the construction of new production capacities, increase in the value and volume of production and trade, the strengthening of producers’ competitiveness and creation of jobs. The funds are also intended to support the purchase, construction, extension, reconstruction, adaptation, rehabilitation and maintenance of production or business premises.

The grants can also be used to purchase new or used equipment, as well as delivery vehicles for the transport of products and other transport devices used in production.

The grants are also intended for permanent working capital, which can make up to 20 percent of the investments, as well as for the purchase of software and other intangible assets

The public call will be open until the funds from the program have been spent, but not later than December 1, 2017. Interested parties can get all the information on the website of the Ministry of the Economy (http://privreda.gov.rs/) and the Fund for Development (http://www.fondzarazvoj.gov.rs/), where the necessary documentation can be downloaded, too.

By issuing the public call for awarding grants, the Ministry of the Economy continued to systematically support small and medium-sized enterprises and entrepreneurs as part of the "Decade of Entrepreneurship" project.

Source: “Tanjug” news agency and Coordination Body